Abstract:

Decades of exoplanet observations have confirmed one of humanity’s (and all teenagers’) worst fears: we are strange. Even though Jupiter is the only Solar System planet detectable with present-day technology, the Solar System is quantifiably unusual among exoplanet systems at the ~1% level. Instead, roughly half of main sequence stars host close-in “super-Earths” or “sub-Neptunes”, and ~10% have Jupiters on non-Jupiter-like, eccentric or close-in orbits. In this talk I will explore how the Solar System fits in a larger context by addressing key steps in planetary system formation. I will present models to explain the diversity of observed planetary systems and show how Earth-sized can sometimes be very non-“Earth-like”, with extreme compositions, orbits and climates.  While many unanswered questions remain, it seems clear that, when they form, giant planets play a decisive role in the sculpting of their planetary systems and that Jupiter was central to shaping our unusual Solar System.

Blog: http://planetplanet.net
Research website: http://perso.astrophy.u-bordeaux.fr/~sraymond/

Speaker: Dr. Sean Raymond (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeau)

Host: Christine Houser, ELSI.

Date: Wed. 15 July 16:00-17:00 JST

Venue: Mishima Hall, ELSI (Hybrid)